The Great Mushroom War
by evil746
Summary: The story of a boy surviving on his own in a post Mushroom War world and the pains he faces alone in the world. Warning: Contains Violence, Adult themes, Sexual references. Part 1 of my Adventure Time series.
1. Chapter 1

Liam awakened. He rubbed his head from where he had bumped it on the shelf. He was in an underground bunker, alone. It was something his father had installed during the war. Liam opened the door and stepped outside into utter destruction. The buildings that once cut through the sky were now nothing more than flaming rumble. Any form of flora in the city was now burnt to a crisp. The highway leading into the city had been torn apart. A whole city, destroyed by the press of a button.

Liam's house stood directly in front of him, collapsed. Three black skeletons laid in what was his backyard; His mothers, fathers, and younger sisters. They had all died trying to get to the bomb shelter. Liam was the first into the shelter and while she was running for safety, his younger sister had sprained her ankle and tripped. His mother and father rushed to her in an attempt to get inside. They failed however, and as Liam saw the bomb being dropped, he closed the door. The blast was so strong, it caused him to hit his head against the shelf.

Liam kneeled over the bodies that were once his family and he began to cry. At first his eyes had started to water a little, but it shortly he began to bawl. He lent over the group of bones and cried into them. He cried for several minutes until he fell he could hold it back. He decided to go into town to see if anyone else might of survived. He began to follow the road until he reached the city central. While walking into the city, he came across a little girl that wouldn't of been older than his sister. She had black hair and was wearing red t –shirt under a blue dress similar to overalls.

She was calling out for her father. Liam was about to go help her when a man had come along. He had long white hair and a small white beard. He wore a grey suit with a black vest underneath. He had a crown attached to some string and looped through one of his belt holes. He had a dark green hiking backpack on with odd objects attached to it. He saw the little girl crying and threw his backpack off before running up to comfort her. He then walked over to a toy store and grabbed a stuffed toy before giving it to the girl and hugging her. Liam thought there was something strange about the man and decided it would be best for him to stay away from them.

He continued into the city until he became tired and sat on a park bench. He sat there for any hour or so before he became hungry. He saw a grocery store across the road from him and had began searching it for food. Most of the food there had already been taken as people had been stocking up for this and so Liam found it hard to find anything to eat. He came across some tinned baked beans and a bag of chips. They felt warm, as though they were radiating heat. He found a plastic spoon and sat down in the aisle leaning against the shelves before eating them. He sat there thinking until it had become dark. Liam took his jacket off and folded it up before lying on it, using it a pillow. He laid there for a few minutes before closing his eyes and drifting off into sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Liam woke to sun light in his eyes. He shielded his eyes from the light with his hands before sitting up. He grabbed his jacket and put it back on and stood up. He found four more cans of baked beans and ate one of them put the others in a plastic shopping bag.

Liam went back outside and continued to walk until it had started to rain. At first, he continued to walk through it, but as it became heavier, he thought it would be best to find shelter. He came across a supermarket and took refuge in it.

While waiting for the storm to pass, Liam began scavenging supplies. He found a large backpack and placed his tinned food in it before putting it on his back. He found a walkman and some cassette tapes for him to listen to, a torch for when it gets dark, a couple boxes of matches, a sleeping bag and a Swiss army knife. He also found a skateboard and slid it in between his back and bag. While looking in an aisle he heard the sound of something being knocked over in the next aisle.

"Hello?" He called out, "Is someone there?" He began to walk towards the sound.

" Are you okay?" Liam asked he poked his head around the corner and saw a bunch of objects spilled across the floor.

He continued to walk around the corner until he saw this grey creature that had the build of a human, oozing green goo out of its eyes and mouth. The creature was staring right at him and Liam just froze. It was only until the creature began to run at him that he began to run.

He ran through the store closely followed by the creature. As he came across the sports equipment , he tripped on a tennis ball. Liam began to crawl away as the monster drew nearer. It had caught up to Liam and now stood over him. The creature had grabbed his right shoulder and had flipped him over. As it did, Liam grabbed a metal baseball bat that was close to his hand and use the momentum of being turned over to swing the bat, hitting the creature in the face.

The creature fell to the ground and Liam stood up over it. It began to move so, he began to hit it over and over until he thought it was dead. He looked over the creature in bewilderment. He poked it using the end of his bat and it oozed more green goo.

'Gross' He thought.

As he continued to look at the monster, he heard footsteps behind him and had turned around. Another two creatures stood in front of him. They looked similar to the other one, but one was black while the other was brown. The black one charged at him and Liam swung his bat into the creatures skull. The other shortly followed and Liam swung the bat into its torso knocking it to the ground before he its head. He shook some goo that was on the tip of his bat and slid it into a slot on his backpack.

'What are these things?' He asked himself as though he knew the answer. He sat next to bodies until the storm had passed and he continued to follow the road into the city.


	3. Chapter 3

A month had passed since The bomb had been dropped. Liam had been surviving on mainly tinned food with the occasion of fresh fruit. After an encounter with a large group of mutants , Liam had found a hunting rifle to protect himself better and had started moving out of the city.

He was walking through the forest that was just outside the city when he heard people talking. He ducked into the bushes and started sneaking up to them. It was the man and little girl he had seen a month ago. The girl's clothes were slightly dirty and the sleeves of her shirt were ripped. The man looked much the same but with longer hair and beard.

The two were looking at a videotape.

"Man, this is a _boring_ movie." The man said. The little girl laughed.

"I like the book much better!" He continued to say. He threw the tape behind him and they both laugh.

**"**You're so silly, Simon!" The girl had said

**"**yeah, I suppose so." Simon had said. Liam tried to moved closer. "Huh?"

"What is that?" the girl had asked. Liam tried to move closer again.

"I'm not sure," Simon said, "but it's coming our way. Come on." The two ran over to a car. Simon picked up the girl and put her in it. "Marcy, you stay in the car. I'll be right back."

"Simon!" Marcy said pulling on his beard. Simon winched in pain. "You're not going to put it on, are you?"

"I have to." Simon replied, "To protect us."

"But you're gonna act weird again!"

"Don't worry, I can control it better now." Liam started to become suspicious.

'Control what better now?' he thought.

"It's okay! B.R.B." Simon had said. He kissed Marcy on the forehead and pulled his head out of the window. Liam a little curious to see what the man was going to do, moved closer.

"Oh, boy. Here it comes." Simon said. Liam moved slower trying to stop the bushes from rustling.

"Oh, bread balls. Oh, bread balls! OH, BREAD BALLS!" The man put on the crown that was tied to his belt holes. His nose and hair and beard then began to grow and he started laughing maniacally.

"I call upon the power of ice and snow!" He shouted now flying in the air. Liam became worried.

" Ice winds, blow!" Icy wind shot out of his hands which caused a deer that would of been near Liam to fly out of the bushes and land perfectly on its feet. It looked around, confused at what just happened.

The man growled, " You will no longer terrify a 47-Year-Old man and a 7-Year-Old girl!" He then shot ice at the deer causing a ball of ice to form around it making it frozen.

Liam began to slowly back away into the woods. He walked deep within the woods to keep away from the crazed magic man. After many hours he set up camp. He made a set up some sticks in a teepee form and grabbed some dried grass and twigs for the fire. He pulled out a box of matches and opened it up.

'One left.' He thought.

Liam struck it along the box and cover his hand around it to shield it from the wind. He placed it on the grass and scooped it up. He then began to gently blow on it until it caught on fire. He placed it in the fire amongst some twigs and it soon set ablaze.

He pulled out his last tin of food and place it just in the fire. While it cooked, he set out his sleeping bag and grabbed a large log and lent against it. He pulled out his book and continued to read it from where he left off. To pass the time he has been reading a book he found on radiation to better understand the new world.

After several minutes he used his shirt to pick up the metal in he left in the fire and took it out to let it cool for a bit. As he was eating he thought he should head into town to resupply. Once he finished his dinner, it was dark and he had jumped into his sleeping bag and slowly gone to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Moring had come and Liam had packed up his camp site and set off into town. He came across a road and he pulled out his walkman, placed his headphones on his head and put a cassette in it. He pulled his skateboard out and set it on the ground before jumping on it and taking off. As he rode, he attempted a variety of tricks, landing a few occasionally and failing most of them.

He rode to town and to a camping store. He grabbed as many matches as he could and some batteries. From there he went to a grocer and was looking for food. He found a bag of pretzels and some apples and a couple tins of food. Liam sat on top of the building and watched over the town. He pulled out one of his apples and ate it. The city was slightly better than it was when the bomb hit. Grass had began to grow back and shrubs had started spouting up here and there.

In the distance Liam could see his old house and memories of his family filled his mind. He remembered how, when he was little, his dad would chase him around the backyard and when he would catch him, Liam's dad would tickle him. He remembered how his mum use to listen to him whenever he was having a tough day just so he had someone to talk about it to. He remember how his little sister would always annoy him in such a way, he would want to wrap his hands around her throat but he never did because he loved her dearly.

When he finished his apple he thought he should visit his house. When he arrived he tried open the door. It was blocked though, a beam sat in front of it. He went over to the window in the living room and broke it open with his baseball bat. He stepped inside and stood there. The house he had been living in all his life was now nothing but rubble.

He went into his room and sat on his bed. He sat there for a while, thinking. Thinking about how his whole world would never be the same again. He picked up a picture frame from his bedside table that held a picture of his family. He took it out, folded it up and put it in his bag. He was about to leave when saw the pantry in the kitchen. He looked through it and found tins of stew, spaghetti, tuna and soup. He also found a bag full of peaches and two large bags of chips.

He left his house and skated along the road he followed a month ago. On his way back out to the city, he heard something banging against a car. He pulled his baseball bat out and followed the noise. There he saw Simon and Marcy again on a freeway.

Marcy had her hands on her ears and Simon was kicking a ambulance shouting 'mother' repeatedly. Simon was then grabbed by a mutant that was hiding under the vehicle and Simon kicks it away. He then begins to push the ambulance off the freeway and it starts saying "Clambulance" over and over.

This caused the mutants in area to start coming after the two. They jumped of the freeway onto a tree cover in a pink substance and Liam had shortly followed them. Most of the mutants chased Simon and Marcy but some of the mutants in the crowd had noticed him. He had to fight through them, violently swinging his bat.

He hit a mutant with a direct hit to the head. A second shortly followed as he hit it in the gut with the tip of the bat and then swung down on its head. A third mutant had walked up to him and he swept it off its feet using the bat before smashing its head open. He continued to fight the mutants with great difficultly until he came across a fire escape that was alongside a building.

He climbed up it and on the roof he could see Simon and Marcy in an alley, trapped between a wall and a group of mutants. Simon put Marcy in a car that sat in the alley and the two were talking. As they did, Liam fumbled to get the hunting rifle off the side of his pack.

"Simon!" He heard Marcy call out.

He looked up and saw Simon closing the car door. Liam had finally got the gun off his back and reached into his pocket for ammunition. He looked up again and stopped. He saw Simon putting on his crown and he began to sing.

"Makin' your way in the world today takes everything you've got!" He shot snow out of his hand and blasted the mutants across the alleyway as he did, Simon began to fly.

"Taking a break from all your worries SURE WOULD HELP A LOT!" He then began to summon what seemed to be a snow storm.

"WOULDN'T IT BE NICE TO GET AWAY!" HE then used his snow storm to blast more Mutants down the alley.

"Where everybody," He began to descend, " knows your name. Where everybody..." Simon then smacked the crown off his head.

It was then that Liam began to walk away back into the shadows and leaving the man and little girl alone.


	5. Chapter 5

Liam rode through the silent city. The only noise that could be heard were the clicks of his wheels on the road. Night had fallen and Liam was trying to find a place to spend the night. The mutants would come out at night.

He found an old apartment building to set up camp. It was pitch black inside. He pulled out his torch and began to look around. He searched through the area a silently as possibly, so if an mutants were in the building, he'd have the upper hand. As he was searching through the apartments, he heard the sound of something large falling over. He turned off his little and slowly snuck up to the room the sound had emitted from. He gently opened the door and before him was a mutant trapped under a bookshelf. Liam stood there for a while and watched the mutant struggle to lift the bookshelf off. He pulled out his baseball bat and cracked it's head open before continuing to search the place.

He found a room in which to stay. He rolled out his sleeping bag and he broke apart some wooden chairs to use as fire wood. He ripped some pieces paper out of some books to use as kindling. He opened his bag of pretzels and ate them as he read his book. As he did, the smoke from the fire rose up and set off a smoke detector. The sprinkles then active and Liam and put his book into his bag in order to save it. He then took off his jacket and used it to try and blow the smoke away from the smoke detector in an attempt to shut it up.

As the smoke alarm beeped, it attracted the mutants that were walking around on the street outside. By the time he stooped the smoke alarm, the mutants were walking through the hallway towards his room. He packed up his sleeping bag, put his backpack on and pulled out his hunting rifle. He loaded with rounds before pointing it at the door waiting.

The door had been torn open and the mutants started to pile into the room. He began to open fire, shooting round after round into the head of a mutant. He pulled the bolt of the gun back and took and aim at the next mutant. Click. Liam looked at his gun before pulling the bolt again and squizzing the trigger. Click. He tried again. Click. And again. Click. The gun was empty. By now the mutant was standing right in front of him and tried to grab him. He hit it in the head with the butt of the gun causing it to hit the ground. He continued to hit it in the head until it's head indented.

Another three mutants had now made their way up to him. He put his gun back in the holster of his pack, pulled out his bat and clubbed the three mutants in the head. More and more mutants began to pour in through the door making Liam retreat to the bedroom. He ran in, locked the door behind him and sat up against it.

'so this is how it's end.' He thought. 'being torn apart by freaks of nature.'

The mutants had pushed up against the door causing Liam to fall forward. While lying on the ground, he could see a shoebox underneath the bed. He pull it out and opened it up. Inside was a black and white picture of a group of soldiers all posing for a photo. He picked it up and underneath was a M1917 revolver from the first world war in a holster. In the corner of the box was 36 or so bullets for it.

Liam took the gun out of its holster and filled it with bullets, he put the remainder of the bullets in his pocket and stood up. He took out his baseball bat with his other and pulled the hammer the hammer of the gun back.

The mutants had burst through the door and Liam shot one right in between his eyes. He knocked another back with his bat and shot another. The mutant that had been knocked to the ground was now crawling towards Liam and he cracked it's head open with his bat. He shot a mutant coming through the door in the leg causing it to fall onto the other before he shot it in the head.

Another two had come through the door and hit them directly in the head. Three mutants had walked in front of the doorway and Liam took aim at another before shooting. Click. One of the mutants had tried to grab him but he kept it back with his bat. He swung out the cylinder and empty the shells out of the slots. He knocked back another mutant that had come up to him before he started to walk backwards.

He fumbled through his pockets for another six rounds. He continued to walk back ,trying to stay away from the creatures, until he was backed into a corner. He placed the six bullets in the revolvers slots and flicked the cylinder back into place. Just has a mutant was to grab him, he pulled the hammer back and shot it in the chest. It stumbled back a few steps before he shot it again in its forehead.

The mutant that had knocked back had now crawled up to him and grabbed his leg. He put the barrel up to its skull and pulled the trigger. The last mutant had run up to him and he pulled back the hammer one last time before shooting it. As he was walking out of the room, Liam picked the revolvers holster up and carried on leaving.


	6. Chapter 6

It had been a year since Liam saw Simon and Marcy. He had grown out of his clothes and now wore jeans, skate shoes and a canvas jacket on top of a t-shirt. His hair had started to grow in length and he was growing a small amount of facial hair.

He was skating through the streets pulling off kickflips and pop-shove its and listening to his walkman when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He stopped and turned around to see Marcy jumping from tree to tree. Her hair was much longer than the last time he saw her. But she wore much the same attire. She still wore a dress that looked similar to overalls but the shirt she wore under it was grey.

She was wearing one sock on her right foot with the heel and the toe of shoe missing. Her dress had a couple of stains on it and the shirt she was wearing underneath sleeves ripped. She was holding some kind of pink rag doll. She jumped off the branch of a tree onto the road behind them and ran across it before sitting in front of a ruined house. Liam snuck up to her and hid in the forest nearby.

"You need another eyeball surgery, pal." Marcy had said to the rag doll, "Lucky for you, we found a donor." She put the doll down ripped a button from her overalls and held it up in the air before exclaiming "Eyeball!" She then began imitating a doctor saying, "Nurse, hand me the string." And then imitated a nurse saying 'Yes, doctor.' She took a piece of string from a spool with a needle attached to it before commenting 'It's our last piece.' She picked up the rag doll. "Hold still." She said to it before stitching the button to it. "I'm hurting you because I love you." She continued to talk to it.

Marcy was all alone, with nothing to talk to but a doll.

'I wonder what happened to Simon' Liam had thought 'He used to look after Marcy, watching over her like a hawk. Now he had mysteriously vanished.' Liam thought about going up to the girl but had decided not to, remembering what Simon did to that deer.

He moved deeper into the woods before walking away from Marcy and back into the city to search for more supplies. Around lunch time Liam had stopped inside the Museum of History for s place to stay while eating. He stepped inside and pulled out his torch and revolver and started searching around for mutants.

As he did, he came across a whole bunch of artefacts. One thing that interested him in particular, was an old book called The Enchiridion. Liam sat down next to the display case that held the book and he pulled a peach and a packet of peanuts from out of his bag. while eating, Liam had thought of the world as it once was.

He imagined the museum full of people walking around and looking at the ancient objects with awe as though they were still here. Liam's heart then sank.

'Why me?' He thought, 'Why was I the one left to survive in the world?' He could feel himself tearing up, 'Why was I the one to be left alone?'

"Why?" He shouted through the empty room slamming his fist into the ground. He lip started to wobble and then he began to cry into his hands. He bite his lip and looked up at the ceiling to stop himself. He sobbed several times before exhaling and he wiped the tears from his eyes.

'I'm just so alone' he thought tucking his knees up to his chest, staring through the room.


	7. Chapter 7

Liam was skating through the streets on his way back out of the city when he saw Marcy again. She was still sitting where she was before but now she was just cuddling her doll. He was staring at her as he rode when he suddenly hit the back of a car and flew across the boot landing on his side.

The car alarm had started to go off and while in great pain, he rolled off the car behind it. He peered over the roof and saw Marcy looking up at it before running off. Liam cradled his side before reaching under the car to grab his board. As he did, he noticed a number of feet coming towards him. Liam reached out for his board stretching his side causing him to winch in pain and pull his arm back.

He noticed more and more mutants were starting to come out of their dark hiding spots and come towards him. He put his arm under the car a second time and desperately reached for his board. He managed to get the tip of his fingers on the edge of the board and started scotching it closer to him. A mutant stumbled up to him and grabbed his arm.

Liam grabbed his board and pulled it out from underneath the car before striking it across the mutants head. He then stood up and slid his board between his back and bag. He pushed through the crowd of mutants and turned around to face it. He pulled out his bat and held it up to his head, ready to swing. A mutant had reached out to grabbed him and Liam swung at him. As he did, his side began to flare up in pain causing him to grab it with one of his hands and loosening his grip with the others. He hit the mutant which made the bat fly out of his hands and fall at the feet of the crowd before being consumed by it. He stared at where the bat had fallen before he pulled out his handgun and pulled the hammer back. Click. He pulled the hammer back again and pulled the trigger. Click.

Liam flicked the cylinder out to check if it was empty. The slot where full. He flicked the cylinder back into it place and tried again. Click. The gun had jammed. By now, the mutants had advanced towards him and were reaching out for him. He hit one of the mutants with the grip and had started to run away. He tried to run, but the car alarm was calling more and more of them out.

Liam saw an alley and dashed to it closely followed by more mutants. He came to a large fence. He turned around and saw the mutants closing in. He began to climb the fence with great difficulty. As he got to the top and was about to jump off, a mutant had grabbed his leg and began to pull on it.

This caused Liam to fall off and land flat on his face and graze the top of his head. He picked himself up and continued to run. More mutants were queuing up in the allies that either side of him. The mutants behind him were pushing up against the fence in an attempt to knock it down.

A ladder was bolted to the side of the wall next to him and he began to frantically climb it. He had reached the top and pulled out his hunting rifle. He fumbled through his pockets looking for any ammunition for it and as he did, the mutants started climbing up.

He kept rifling through his pockets in a crazed attempt to find them only to discover he had none. As the mutants drew nearer, Liam jumped to the building an alleyway across to him just falling short. His stomach hit the edge and he started to fall before stopping himself with his arms, throwing his hunting rifle forward. His forearms held his weight while the rest of his body dangled over the edge. He crawled his way back up to the roof and he picked up his gun before he continued to run.

He saw a roof top entrance thinking of it as a way out back down to street level. He swung opened the door to see a large number of mutants in the stair well. Liam raced back up to the roof shutting the door behind him. It wasn't long until the mutants began banging on the door breaking it. Liam stood at the edge of the building cornered between a potently deathly drop and creatures that want to rip him to shreds.

As the group of mutants hobbled towards him, Liam looked between the drop and the swarm before making his decision. He jumped down from the building towards the pavement. He landed on his feet before the momentum of his fall sent him forward. He placed out his hands bracing himself but one of his legs had hit the curb. He picked himself up and began to run before winching in pain. He looked back at the mutants in the roof before he began to slowly limp away grabbing his leg.


	8. Chapter 8

Liam had made his way out of the city and set up a camp. That night he had a dream he wasin the city before it ws destroyed. People were rushing around to get to work, cars queued up along the road, and people were riding bikes through the middle of the crowds causing people o jump out of thier way. Liam stood there smiling while he was watching people carry on with their lives when he saw someone point up into the sky. He looked up to where he was pointing and saw something falling down towads them. He soon knew what it was.

Liam started to run and has he did he heard an explosion. He turned around to see a huge green mushroom cloud where he was standing. People started running but were soon consumed by the heat wave emitted. He continued to run until he found a hole to jump into. He then saw his family standing a few metres in front of him holding out their hands with pleading look on their face. He reached out his hand to grab theirs when the heat wave disintegrated them. He ducked down into the hole and looked out once the heat wave passed over. There he saw Marcie hugging her doll and crying as mutant surrounded her.

Liam jumped out of the hole and tried to push through the crowd to get to her. He was knocked back by one of them and it looked at him before turning back to Marcie and closing in on her. He picked himself up and tried to pushed through the crowd again. The crowd closed in on Marcie and she disappeared in it before it turned to him. He started to run but had tripped and the swarm of mutants had soon surrounded him. They then stood over him and started to rip him apart. He started screaming and soon woke from his dream, gripping his chest and breathing heavily.

When morning had past he packed up his camp and made his way to a lake nearby. He stripped down to his underwear and jumped in. He rubbed some water in his wound on his forehead and cupping some water in his hands, he washed his torso before dipping his head under the water. He ran his fingers through his hair to get all the grease and dirt out. He then grabbed a toothbrush and toothpaste and processed to brush his teeth, spitting the foam in the water.

Liam stepped out of the water and put on his clothes. He rummaged through his bag and pulled out a razor and a battery powered hair trimmer. He then started shaving his stubble using the reflection of the water. He grabbed his hair trimmer and ran it through his hair to cut it down to length. The bits of hair fell from his head, landed on the water, and floated along the surface. He rubbed his now clean face while looking at his reflection.

He grabbed his backpack and began slightly limping into the city. Without a bat, a broken pistol and a empty rifle, Liam would have to keep off the main streets away from the mutants. He was walking through a street and had come across a gun store. He scavenged through the store for ammunition and a bore brush. He found a handful of rounds for both his hunting rifle and his pistol. Liam the sat on the counter and pulled apart his gun before using the bore brush to clean it. He then put the revolver back together and tested the gun while it was empty.

Liam made his way through the city to a sports shop and looked around for a new bat to replace his old one. While rummaging, Liam heard a noise and grabbed the first thing he could, a hockey stick. Holding the stick up high to his head and slowly walked towards the sound. He turned a corner and saw three mutants wandering through the aisle.

He cracked the head of one of the mutants closest to him with a quick sweep. The other two turned to face him and he bashed in the head of another. The third reached out to grab him and Liam dodged it, pivoting on his bad leg before it collapsed. The mutant stood over him and started scratching at him and trying to bite him.

Liam used the hockey stick to keep it a bay holding it up to its neck. He used the handle of the stick to it the mutant in the head knocking it off him. He held the weapon above his head before slamming it down onto the mutants head crushing it's skull. He inspected the weapon before putting it in the slot of his pervious and then set out looking for lunch.

Liam walked for hours on end making it from one side of the city to the other before finding a grocery store. He looked through the aisle looking for any tinned food only to find some tinned spaghetti. Liam sat their eating his food when he stopped suddenly; he heard a voice. He looked under the selves that once held food to see two little feet. It was Marcie.

"Hmm," She said, "What do you think I should have Hambo?" She asked herself standing there.

Liam snuck around to the aisle to watch her. She was talking to the little pink rag doll.

"You're right, I should have the beans." She said before climbing the selves.

Liam started to slowly back away before tripping over a empty jar. Marcie looked over towards the sound.

"Hello?" She asked. Liam picked himself up and started limping away.

"Is someone there?" Marcie started to follow him. "Simon is that you?" She continued to asked relentlessly following him. Liam duck down behind a butcher counter and hid there while Marcie was looking for him.

"Simon where have you been? I've been scared and lonely." Marcie called out.

'She's all alone' Liam thought, 'Simon must of abandoned her.'

Liam stood up from behind the counter to see that Marcie had gone. He could see that the door was swinging closed.

'Must of gone looking for Simon' He thought 'Poor girl.'

He stood there for a while looking at the door before heading back out of the city.


	9. Chapter 9

It had been eight years since Liam had seen Marcie but he remembered that look on her face when she was looking for Simon all those years ago. He was now 23 and as the years passed, He had changed his attire and he now wore a buttoned up t-shirt over a long sleeved shirt and khaki cargo pants which had been slightly torn and tattered over time. When food started to become scarce in the city, he began to hunt animals out of the city. He had read a survival book on how to build traps and track animals to help him and had become pretty good at it.

Liam was out hunting a deer and collecting some rabbits from traps he laid the pervious day when he saw a diner with the windows smashed in and decided to scavenge in it for food. He hid in a bush and silently snuck up careful not to attract any mutants in the area. As he did he saw a teenaged girl sitting on a log out in the woods, crying. He moved closer trying to get a better look at her and had snapped a stick under his foot. He froze in his spot and starred at the girl through the bushes waiting for her response.

The girl continued to cry not noticing the noise. Liam continued to move closer a little too hastily and caused the bushes to rustle. The girl looked over her shoulder and then stood up.

"Hello?" She said, "Is someone there? Come out and I won't hurt you."

Liam stood there for a moment thinking.

'Could she be serious?' he thought, 'She doesn't look like she could hurt a fly, but you don't say that unless you actually mean it.'

Liam stood up out of the bushes with his hands up by his head to show that he was friendly. The girl stood there in confusion while Liam stepped out of the bush. The girl stared at him up and down and then spoke up.

"Who are you?" She asked

"Liam. You?"

"Marceline."

Liam looked at her at her in astonishment, "Marceline, like Marcie?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I, uh, knew someone who was called Marcie."

Marceline slumped down on the log and Liam sat next to her. The two sat there for in silence trying to avoid the obvious subject. Marceline look at him trying to make conversation and noticed the skateboard stick out from between his back and his bag.

"You ride?" She asked.

"Just to get around really, but I learnt a couple of tricks to pass the time."

They sat there in silence again until Marceline spoke up again.

"So how did you survive? Why didn't anyone else?" She asked looking at him.

"Well, when we had been invaded by the Chinese-"

"Wait what?" Marceline said shocked.

"Don't you remember?"

She shrugged "I must of been out of the country."

"The Chinese invaded here through the ports and then spread out to central America and eventually to the east and set up little base in cities every now and then. So the government released an announcement over TVs and radios that if the Chinese weren't to leave they would retaliate with nuclear weapons." Liam explained.

" No one believed them though and thought that they were bluffing, not even when they started sending out flyers warning the people of the cities to evacuate but they stocked up on food because of that feeling in your gut that you get when something's wrong. No one talked about it but you could see it."

"The only person to believe them was my dad, he was one of the few, if not the only to buy a bunker. We all thought that he had the right idea. For the first two weeks, we believed it but after the third week, we started to have our doubts. My mum even threatened to leave my dad. But while we were all sitting at home one day, we heard planes flying over head. Not one or two planes, but a fleet of them. My family all went outside to see and then we saw one of the planes drop something. It took only a second for us to realise what it was and we bolted for the bunker but there was..." Liam looked down at the ground, "There was an accident and i was the only one in my family left."

"That's horrible." Marceline said.

"Yeah."

Marceline sat on the log staring in front of her trying to adsorb what was just said while Liam reminisced in memories of his family. They didn't speak to each other for the next five minutes. It was only when Liam snapped out of his thoughts that he broke the silence.

"So, where's your family?"

"I think my dad's still inside that diner."

"Wait, so you're not the only one alive?"

"No, but I don't really feel like talking about him." Marceline mumbled.

"Why?"

"I said I don't want to talk about him."

"Is that why you were crying?"

Marceline stood up and her eyes literally turned red "I said I don't talk about him!" She shouted.

Liam stood up, "Okay I was just wondering."

"Just leave me alone!" Marceline shouted tearing up and burring her face in her hands.

Liam back away slowly into the woods and then walked off looking for a place nearby to camp so he could go back to Marceline in the morning.


	10. Chapter 10

As Liam walked through the forest pushing braches out of his path, he thought of Marceline and how her eyes filled with red when he asked about her dad.

'Did her eyes really turn red?' He thought, 'Nah. Probably just sleep deprivation.'

Ever since that night Liam had that nightmare, he had more of them and they recently became more and more frequent and it made it harder for him to sleep. After wondering for a few minutes, Liam found an opening in the forest big enough for him to set up camp and had done so. He placed his bag up against a rock and unrolled his sleeping bag. He collect an abundant of dead sticks and used them to start a fire before piercing the deer meat with a large stick and placed it on two forked stick dug on opposites sides of the fire.

Liam sat up against the rock watching his meat cook and occasionally turning it to cook it evenly. When his deer had roasted, he took it off it stand, slid the meat off its skewer and slowly ate it in the palm of his hands, then sat there thinking when he finished. As the hours passed, Liam had to fight his urge to sleep but eventually gave in.

Liam woke from his nightmare and jumped. He rubbed his face and stared at the sea of trees in front of him for a couple of hours before drifting off to sleep again. When Liam awoke for the second time, it was morning. He packed his camp and hastily made his way back to the diner. He ran through the bush and started calling out when he saw the diner.

"Marceline, It's me!" He shouted running up to the entrance and looking in. It was empty.

"Liam!" He shouted running back out to where he had seen Marceline the night before.

"I just thought I might be able to join yo-" He turned the corner to see that the clearing was empty.

Liam hit a tree next to him with the bottom of his fist. He then hit it again and again and again faster and more violently each time and started to cry as he did. Liam fell to his knees and smash both his fists into the ground.

"Why?" He shouted into the sky, "Why when I finally find someone so that I'm not alone do you tear them away from me?! What did I do to deserve this?!"

Liam sat there kneeling for a minute or so before propping himself up on one of his knees and walking off into the wood to continue to hunt for food.


	11. Chapter 11

Liam looked down the sight of his barrel, taking in a deep breath and partially exhaling, holding the rest, then shooting the deer in his crosshairs and continuing to exhale the remaining air. He slid down on the destroyed building he sat on hunting his prey and went to collect his food. Over the 12 years, the animals had migrated into the city causing Liam to have to start hunting in the city.

The animals tended to avoid the mutants but there had been an occasion or two where a group of mutants got a deer or a rabbit or some other woodland creature. Liam had come across an animal carcase or two that the mutants managed to grab and it was very gruesome. The belly was usually ripped open and the guts left lying on the ground, the ribs would be sticking out with patches of skin and meat attached to them, and the creature would be covered in flies.

Liam walked up to his kill and pulled out his knife. He pierced the belly and sliced down it before gently tearing it open with his hands. He then sliced a large chuck of meat off the deer's ribs and placed it in a satchel sitting at his side. He continued to cut pieces off the deer until there was barely any left. Once he did, Liam walked off to check his traps for any other animals.

Liam had placed traps all over the city years ago to help him catch any small animals while he's put looking for supplies. There had been a time where he had caught a mutant in one of the traps, which when he went to inspect it was nearly killed by it. From then on he took caution from any mutants that he'd caught in traps but that hardly ever happened. While on his way to one of the traps he placed hidden in the city's centre, he heard a noise from a store.

He lifted his hockey stick out of its holster and began to investigate the source of the noise. He walked in through the door and through the aisle searching for any mutants. He passed through all of them until he came across the last row. He held the stick above his head and ran around the corner to see a 23 year old woman standing there holding a bottle of sunscreen. She had long black hair and wore a brown singlet with dark brown pants with tears in some places, some ankle high black boots and a dark brown satchel. She looked at him with worry before a smile drew across her face.

"Liam." She exclaimed.

"Marceline?" He said dropping the hockey stick.

He looked at her stunned; speechless. He gulped and then spoke up, "What... what are you doing here?" He asked putting the hockey stick up on his shoulder.

Marceline held up the bottle of sunscreen, "Just getting some, umm, sunscreen." She blushed.

Liam and Marceline stood there looking at each other, not saying a word.

"Are you, um, hungry?" Liam finally asked holding up his bag of meat.

"Yeah, staving."

"Well, would you like to come to my camp and have some?"

"I'd love to." Marceline said a little too quickly, "I mean, sure, okay."

Marceline put the bottle of sunscreen in her satchel before following Liam out the door.

"So, are you all by yourself?" Liam asked as they walked.

"Yep."

"What happened to your dad?"

"Well, after what happened between the two of us, he... he left me here, so I just lived on my own."

Liam was about to ask her what happened when he remember back to that night when he first met her and decided it would be best not to. The two continued to walk in silence until they reached a small area in the forest outside the city. Marceline collected the fire wood while Liam found a log for the two to sit on and set out his sleeping bag.

When Marceline returned, she set up a fire as Liam collect some sticks to roast his meat on. He lit some kindling and placed it in the bunch of sticks before sticking the hunk of deer meat onto a stick and then over the fire. He then sat on the log next to Marceline as she sat in silence lost in the flames of the fire. Liam looked at her and traced her gaze to the flames before looking back at her then joining in on looking at the fire.

Liam then began turning the meat until it started to cook all over.

"How do you like your meat?" Liam asked as he turned the flesh over.

"Medium rare I guess."

Liam cooked the meat to his guest liking and then ripped it off the stick and tore it in half and gave one piece to Marceline. He sat on the log next to her and began to eat from his hands. While chewing up the food in his mouth, he looked over at Marceline who pierced the red of the meat with one of her teeth before he looked back to the meal in his hands and took another bite. The two ate their food in silence, taking occasional glances at each other and looking away when the other caught them. When they had finished Marceline stood up from the log and turned to him.

"Well, I guess I'll get going now." She said turning towards the sea of trees.

"Wait." Liam said reaching out and grabbing her hand. It felt weird holding someone's hand after being without human contact for 21 years.

"It's dangerous to go out at night. It's when the mutants come out."

"Oh, okay. Well, could would I be able to stay with you for the night?"

"Sure." Liam replied releasing her hand, letting her sit back down on the log.

The two continued to sit in silence for a couple of hours until they started to become tired.

"Well," Liam yawned, stretching his arms, "I'm beat so I'm gonna go to bed."

Liam kicked off his shoes and was about to step into his sleeping bag, when he noticed Marceline sat there looking at him hugging herself to keep warm.

"Would you like to sleep in my sleeping bag?"

"Oh no," She said, "I couldn't do that."

"It would be my pleasure." He said holding the entrance slightly off the ground for her. She took off her boots and stepped in, taking the piece of cloth from Liam's hand. He walked over to the log and sat against it.

"Goodnight." She said closing her eyes and rolling over.

"Night." Liam mumbled lying next to the log facing the fire. He starred at it for a few minutes until he finally closed his eyes.


	12. Chapter 12

"Where are we going?"

"We," Liam replied, "are going to get supplies. Batteries and matches and stuff like that."

"Oh okay. Is this what you usually do?"

"Well it's all there is to do; survive."

The two were walking down the middle of a street through the city. It felt weird to Liam, finally having someone to talk to. He had spent the apocalypse alone and he had gotten used to it, now it was like making friends on the first day of school.

"So… How did you know it was me?" Liam said.

Marceline pointed to his back, "The skateboard."

"Oh, so you remember it?"

"Yeah. Still do any tricks on it or were you just lying?" She mocked.

"Of course I can." Liam scoffed.

"Go on then."

"Hold this." Liam said handing over his oversized bag.

He set the board down on the road, placing his foot on the tail. He slide his foot forward and then pushed off with his other. He quickly took off down the street, pushing off again and again gaining more momentum. Liam then placed his other foot on the board and squatted down as he was coming up on a car. He jumped it, flicking the board as he did and landed clean on the asphalt. He spun around back to Marceline and stopped right in front of her with a grin on his face.

"You were saying?"

Marceline rolled her eyes and then handed hid pack to him before walking off. As he was sliding his arms through the straps, he looked over at her and noticed she was smiling. It felt good having a friend again, all his time alone really made him appreciate moments like these. He quickly caught up with her and they continued to make their way to a store.

"First thing we need to do," Liam said prying the automatic doors with his hockey stick, "Is get you a sleeping bag."

"Oh yeah, thanks for that last night."

"That's okay," Liam said following her through the doors, "I just want to know, why you don't have one?"

"Well I did live in the city and if ever I need a place to sleep, there always was an unoccupied bed around."

Liam and Marceline walked up the once functioning escalators "Don't the Mutants bother you?"

"No, I seem to keep my distance from them and so long as I lock the doors, I'm fine."

"Yeah well, I did once spend a night in an apartment during the winter so I had a fire going and the smoke set off the alarm."

"Really?"  
>"Yeah, it's amazing what still works." "Still," He said pulling out his revolver, "I did get this thing from it all."<p>

The two made their way to the camping store and collected there supplies. As they did, they talked about the adventures that they had, Marceline's seeming to be a lot more mundane than Liam's. The most exciting thing that ever happened to her, that she wanted to talk about, was the time she fell in a hole and ended up in a basement. As the two were walking back, they passed a clothes store.

"Oh wait, I need to get some new clothes, these have about had it." Liam said gesturing to his tatted clothes.

"Yeah," Marceline said looking down at her boots, "I think I might need some new ones too."

Liam ran into the store and started going through clothes. He pulled them off their hangers and threw them behind him.

"Hey!" Marceline said, "You're making a mess."

"So? We're the last two people on Earth, I don't think it much matters if I make a mess."

"Yeah that's true." Marceline said. She then grabbed a shirt from the pile Liam left and threw it at him.

Liam looked at her furiously. Her smile quickly faded. He tried to hold back his but he simply couldn't. Liam began to laugh before grabbing a jacket from the rack and throwing it back at her. Marceline jumped out of the way and began to run down the store. He grabbed a whole rack of clothes and began to follow her, balling the clothes up and pegging them at her.

"No." Marceline laughed, "Stop it!"

She hid behind a coat rack as cover before grabbing a dress from it and throwing it at Liam. Liam ducked down by an underwear rack.

"What do you think of this?" He asked Marceline popping back up with a bra across his chest.

"You know," She replied coming out from behind the coat rack, "It looks good on you."

Liam then placed it up on his head, "What about this? Is this a good look?"

Marceline burst out laughing, "Definitely."

It was in this moment Liam felt normal. He felt like the world was fine. He forgot about the mutants, he forgot about all his dead friends and family, he forgot about all his loneliness. It made him smile; something that he hadn't done in a long time forgot about everything. Liam put the bra back and then went back to searching for clothes. When he found his look, he rushed off to the change room to show off to Marceline. He emerged shortly after wearing black slip ons, grey, casual slacks, a dark grey shirt with a dog's skeleton walking along it and an azure blue hoodie.

"I liked the bra much better." Marceline said.

"Oh hardy ha." He said rolling his eyes.

"Well what do you think of this?" She asked holding up a pair of skinny jeans a white singlet and a grey flannel shirt.

Liam shrugged. "I don't think that's in fashion anymore."

Marceline playfully shoved him as she made her way to the change rooms. As she was changing, Liam went outside the shop and lent on the hand rail and looked out to the empty shopping centre. To him, it didn't seem so empty any more. The world felt different, not as gloomy as it was. All that misery Liam aced throughout the 21 years being alone didn't matter anymore, Marceline was there now. The little girl he had seen since day one. Marceline then came up next to him, placed her hands on the rail much like Liam and stared out. They looked out in silence, not the silence like when they first met but the silence that's there when no words need to be spoke.

"Ready to go?" He asked after a while.

"Yeah."

The two then walked along in silence and out the doors.


	13. Chapter 13

"Come on," Liam said, "Water's great."

Marceline stood in under the shade of a tree, rubbing her arm with her hand. Liam was waist deep in a pond in nothing but his underwear. His clothes were piled up next to Marceline along with his bag.

"I don't know." She said looking down at the ground.

"Aw, come on. It's the only way to get clean."

Marceline sighed, "Fine."

Liam dipped his head under the water. The water felt pure; tranquil. It was the only thing Liam still found pleasant. It seem to cleanse him outside and in. All the anger and depression would wash away with it and he be calm. He pulled his head out and with eyes still closed, he let out a long exhale which loosened the emotion's tension around his ribs. A smile drew across Liam's face as he felt at peace.

Liam opened his eyes and looked over at Marceline who was now down to her off white underwear as well. She threw her bottle of sunscreen on the pile of her clothes and jumped into the water. Marceline pulled her head out of the water and flicked her hair, which seemed to happen in slow motion, as it does. Liam raised an eyebrow at her as her chest emerged from the water. To think, she was once that little girl he saw calling out for her dad.

Marceline opened her eyes to see Liam staring at her. She blushed and quickly broke eye contact with him. Liam quickly saw she was uncomfortable and turned to his side. He cupped some water in his hands and threw it onto his chest, splashing it up onto his face. Liam glanced over at Marceline to see her catching a look at him. He smiled as she quickly looked away. He then looked back at Marceline and splashed water on her. She let out a large squeal and jumped backwards.

"Hey!" She said wiping the water out of her eyes.

Liam slapped the water which splashed up into Marceline. She started running backwards through the water but tripped and fell. Liam burst out laughing at the shocked look on her face as she fell. Marceline quickly pick herself up and splashed Liam back.

"How do you like it?" She giggled.

Liam and Marceline continued to splash each other back and forth till Liam ran at her and tackled her into the water. She quickly resurfaced and attempted to push him away as Liam tried pulling under. Marceline managed to break free from his grip and run off. Liam quickly picked himself up and chased after her before she tripped in the water again.

Liam quickly followed her and the two started laughing. He divided back down into the water and Marceline followed. Liam smiled at her as the two floated in the weightlessness of the water. Smalls rays of sunlight shone through, dancing over Marceline's light skin. Her bright, green eyes stood out in the blue yonder. Her raven black hair spread out in several strains like tentacles. She smiled back at him and his chest tightened again. However, this time it wasn't like before. It was a warm feeling.

Underwater, time seemed to have froze. It ceased to exist. It was just Liam and Marceline floating through the water, like there was nothing else around them. It felt like a world- no, a universe- where the only things to exist was them. Liam continued to sit there absorbing the moment. It was until his lungs began to burn that he re-emerged deeply inhaling . Marceline followed and chuckled at him as he did.

The two then sloughed through the water back to their clothes where they towelled off and got dressed. Liam slipped his bag on and he and Marceline set off down to the city. As they walked, Marceline slipped her hand into Liam's. Liam looked at her confused and she smiled at him. The tightness in his chest came back. He smiled back at her and squeezed her hand.


	14. Chapter 14

Liam and Marceline sat on the roof of an apartment building eating freshly picked apples and wild berries they had found in the forest and a can of mixed nuts. It had been a near month since they had been together. Liam's kicked his legs that dangled over the edge while the silently looked out on the setting city. It was a lot prettier now. Thick trees sprouted out of rubble, shrubs grew from broken sidewalks and grass had now gone back to its luscious, green. The sky was a brilliant pink and the clouds orange.

The city wasn't as gloomy and depressing anymore: it was alive and beautiful. It reminded him of how much better life was with Marceline. Ever since he was with her, life had been better. It wasn't a miserable hell he was being forced to live through, it was something worth living.

Liam placed his hand on Marceline's which rested next to her to keep her up. Liam smiled to himself as that tightness in his chest returned. He knew what it meant. It was that same feeling he had back in grade one when he had his first crush. The two finished their lunch and stood up from the edge, making their way to street. They walked around for an hour or so, talking and laughing until Marceline ran off into a shop glancing over her shoulder occasionally with a mischievous grin on her face.

"Hey." Liam said, "Where are you going?"

She didn't answer. Instead she continued to make her way into the store. Liam chuckled as he followed her.

"Marceline?" Liam called out. He heard a loud clutter from the corner. Liam pulled out his hockey stick and followed the sound. He cautiously walked through the store, making his way to the source. Liam came to the end of the aisle and turned the corner with his hockey stick high above his head. He came face to face with Marceline holding an instant camera.

"Oh." He gasped, dropping his hockey stick and gripping his chest, "Marceline, I thought you were a mutant."

"No, I was just getting this." She said holding up the camera. She then wrapped her arm around him and held the camera above them. "Say 'Cheese'!"

"Cheese." Liam chuckled.

The flash went off and the photo came out. Marceline grabbed the photo and shook it until the picture emerged. Liam leaned over her shoulder and looked at it with her. He couldn't help but smile.

"Perfect." He said. "Come on, it's getting late."

The two made it out to the forest by dusk and set up a fire. When night fell, Liam pulled out a bag of marshmallows and grabbed two sticks to roast them on. As they cooked, Marceline moved closer to Liam. The tightness in his chest came back. His hand became clammy and his lips went dry. He turned to her.

"Marceline." Liam said. He took a deep breath but the tightness in his chest preventing him from filling his lungs. "I, well I guess, I mean, I don't guess, I know... What I'm trying to say is..." He started laughing, "Look at me, I'm as giddy as a kid. I'm just trying to say that, I-"

Marceline interrupted him with a kiss. In that moment, everything dissolved around him. Nothing else existed. It was like that moment in the water where they were weightless and the rest of the world was cut off but this time, they were in each other's arms and joined at the lips. They broke away and stared into each other's eyes with passion and kissed again. Their kissed was a lot more erratic and lustful, like they wanted more. Marceline grabbed the zip of his hoodie and pulled it off his arms. She then grabbed the hem of his shirt and lifted up to his neck. They quickly parted so Marceline could pull it off. Liam threw the two of them onto his sleeping bag and they continued to kiss and remove each other's clothing.


	15. Chapter 15

Liam woke up in his sleeping bag staring at a pile of his clothes. He slipped them on and looked around for Marceline. She was nowhere to be seen.

"Marceline..." Liam called out, "Marceline, where are you?"

Liam began to get worried. She had just disappeared. Liam ran through the woods looking for her, pushing past all the foliage in his way. He continued through the forest until he came to a cliff edge, and there she was. Sitting there with her legs hanging over the edge. She was looking down the face of the cliff into the deathly drop beneath her. If the fall didn't kill you, the trees would.

"Marceline, what are you doing up here?"

She didn't answer.

"I got worried when you weren't at the camp."

"Go." Marceline whispered under her breath.

"What?"

"GO!" She shouted standing up.

"What? Why?"

"Because last night was a mistake!" She screamed.

Liam stood there in silence.

"What are you doing?! Go!" She screamed at him once more.

Liam retreated back into the woods to his camp where he packed his bag and set off. As he went to walk off, he saw something sticking out of Marceline's bag. It was the picture Marceline took of them. Liam pulled it out of Marceline's bag.

'It's not like she'll want this anymore..."'He thought staring at it.

A tear rolled his cheek and landed on the photo. Liam grabbed two of the corners and went to rip it but he simply couldn't. He folded the picture and placed it in his back pocket. He looked back into the woods in the direction Marceline was before turning back and making his way to the city.

Liam walk for hours till he made his way to the heart of the city where it began to rain. He didn't mind though. It didn't mean anything to him; nothing did.

'I see what this is now...' Liam thought.

"This was just you screwing me over again!" He said to the sky, "I was meant to fall head over heels for Marceline just so I could have my heart ripped out."

"Why?!" He shouted at the sky, "Why do I have to go through so much pain and torment?!"

Liam looked into the sky, half expecting an answer but he go none.

He looked down at the ground, "First my family dies then I'm left isolated for years having Marceline dangling in front of me and when I finally get her, I fall for her only to find out I mean nothing to her."

Liam began to tear up. Tears fell to the ground and blended into the rain. He wiped the tears away and continued on. Liam eventually found the old apartment building where he found his revolver. He made his way up to the old apartment those many years ago. Liam came to the room and it looked the same as it did when he first stepped in, except for the fire he left there and the smoke damage. He slumped down against the wall and pulled out his revolver.

"I just... can't do this anymore." Liam said pulling the hammer back.

He placed the barrel in his mouth and put his finger on the trigger.

'No more pain,' He thought, 'No more hurt.'

Liam squeezed the trigger and began to cry.

'What happens after all this? Will I see my family again? Or is this it? Is this all life is? If you can even call it life... Why would you want to live in a world of hurt, spending everyday clawing for life?'

Liam threw the gun across the room and cried into his hands.

"Dammit!" He screamed. "I can't do it... I just can't do it."


	16. Chapter 16

Liam trudged through the city. He was walking to try to take his mind off things. It didn't seem to work. Life was pointless, nothing more than pain and hurt. A deer trotted out onto the road and lapped up some water that had gathered in a pot hole. Liam pulled out his rifle and set the sight on the deer. He squizzed the trigger, ready to fir. Suddenly, Liam stopped. He let out a loud sigh and put the rifle down to a resting position. The deer looked up and saw Liam and ran off. Liam put the rifle back on his bag and carried on walking.

Liam made his way to a supermarket, and searched the store for food. After searching top to bottom, he came up empty. On his way out, he noticed something shiny over a counter. He vaulted over it and found a bottle of rum on the ground. Liam picked the bottle up and stared at it. He knew that alcohol helped people forget things, that it made you feel better. He undid the cap and took a drink.

The drink warmed his sternum as it trickled down his throat. The heat spread throughout his chest, almost irradiating from him. Liam smiled as he parted the bottle from his lips and screwed the lid back on. Liam then walked out the door bottle in hand.

Hours passed, and the bottle became emptier and emptier. Liam was staggering through the city. The drink didn't make him feel any better. Well it did for a little, but now it just worsened his depression. Liam tipped the bottle up only to receive a final drop. He looked at the bottle in disgust as it refused to drown his sorrow any longer. A bird flew down onto the ground and pecked at it.

"Get outta here!" Liam shouted at the bird, throwing his bottle at it.

The bottle hit the ground and smashed to pieces. The bird flew away. Liam stumbled over to the shards of the bottle and kneeled down in front of it. He starred at the bottle before picking up a large piece of it. He starred at the glass and then his wrist. He held the glass to it. Liam hesitated. Instead of running it along his skin, he pressed harder against it. He was scared; scared of the pain, scared of the end. But he hated life, he couldn't live another second of it. He wanted it over. Liam stared at his wrist and the glass pressed against.


	17. Chapter 17

Eight years had passed. Liam was now 40 and he'd taken less and less care of himself. His clothes were shredded and filthy. His hair had grown to shoulders length and was all greasy and clumped together in groups. He let a long, thick beard grow on his face. He didn't much care. Liam was walking through the forest, gulping down whiskey. He was making his way to the city. He no longer cared about the danger, it didn't matter.

Liam pushed past the foliage to overlooking the city. He started at it for a while before he went to take another swig of his drink. As he lifted it to his mouth, he saw the scar across his wrist. He stopped and looked at it, as memory of the pain Marceline caused him. A tear rolled down his cheek and disappeared into his rough beard. He quickly downed a mouthful of whisky to drown the pain. He wiped some of the drink that dribbled down into his beard and he continued on.

Liam wandered through the city, with nowhere to go and nothing to do. So he staggered around, swimming in his hatred. His hatred for Marceline for hurting him, but himself for letting himself get close to her and for thinking that she actually loved him. Liam felt clenching against the bottle. He was becoming angrier and angrier. He started to blame a greater power for his misfortune. That it was there just to toy with him. He let out a loud roar and threw the bottle. It hit a car and set of the alarm. Liam pulled out his hockey stick and began hitting the hood of the car over and over and over, unleashing his rage out on it. This brought the mutants out of their hiding holds and herded towards him.

"Alright then, Come on!" He shouted at them as the stumbled up to him.

Liam struck a nearby mutant in the head with his hockey stick and knocked it to the ground, dead. He continued to bash his head in with the stick while the mutant's continued to surround him. Liam stopped and swung the hockey stick around knocking down a few mutants around him. Several Mutant behind him grab a hold of his bag and shoulders. Liam attempted to shake them off but it did nothing.

The small group he'd knocked over had picked themselves back up and tried to claw at him. Liam kicked them to try and keep them back. One of the mutants managed to grab his leg and began pulling at it. He tried to kick it with his free leg but another quickly grabbed that. The hoard started to crowd around him and tearing away at his clothes, ripping the fabric from his body. Liam knew it was the end, he closed his eyes and wanted it to be over with. But suddenly he felt his legs dangling. He opened his eyes and he was soon off the ground, with the hoard of mutants far from him. Liam looked up at what was carrying him. It was Marceline. She was flying. The two dropped down on a nearby rooftop.

"You were flying!" Liam exclaimed.

"Are you alright?" Marceline asked.

"How? How is that even possible?"

"The same reason I couldn't love you... Because, I'm a vampire."

Liam stood there stunned, and furious. It couldn't be possible, being a vampire.

"And," She continued, "because I'm a vampire, I'm immortal. And that means I'd outlive you. That you'd grow old and die in my arms and I couldn't bring myself to that.

She waited for Liam to responded, but he stayed silent.

"But now that I've told you, we can be together; I can turn you." Marceline added.

"Do you have any idea what it did to me?" Liam said.

He held up his wrist to show her the scar.

"This, you did this to me. When you left me, I was a wreck. I couldn't bare another second of this world. I went to the bottle to drown my sorrows. And now you think that I'd just come back to you? That I'd just forget all the pain you put me through? If you truly loved me, you wouldn't of left me."

Marceline stood there, shocked at what he said. Liam's words pierced through her like a spear. Liam became furious at her and walked off, down the rooftop access, leaving her standing there, absorbing what he said.

Liam walked out onto the streets and through the city until it became dark. He had found another bottle and was sipping away at it as he thought about what Marceline had said, and what he had said. He was becoming more and more drunk as he thought more about his life events. He stumbled into an alleyway and slumped down against the wall. It was then, that it began to rain. Liam didn't mind though. He was too busy thinking.

'How did I get to this?' He thought, 'Sitting in an alley as it buckets down. What happened?'

Liam went to take a sip of his bottle and looked at it.

"You," He said to the bottle, "You happened."

'It wasn't me.' The bottle replied in his mind, 'It was Marceline, she was the one that hurt you. That made you try to take your life.'

"It's not easy when someone hurts you, but you just make it worse."

'But don't I make you feel better?' The bottle retorted.

"No. You just make me dwindle on my terrible thoughts. You hurt me more than Marceline cause you make me hurt myself."

It was in that moment, in that rather peculiar conversation with a bottle, that he realised that he was his worst enemy. That by giving in to drinking, he was the only one to blame for his pain. Liam picked himself up and stared at the bottle. Then, he dropped it and walked off, leaving the bottle behind.


	18. Chapter 18

Liam stood in the centre of a circle of small plastic chairs, His bag next to him. He shaved his beard now, back down to a stubble and cut his hair down to a short cut. He found some leather casual shoe a pair of jeans and a red and white striped collared t-shirt in replacement to the rags he once wore . He looked around the small, dark room. Several skeletons sat either on some of the chairs or laid on the ground. Anti-alcohol posters were peeling from the wall. A table sat next to the door with several sobriety chips.

"Hi. I'm Liam and I'm an alcoholic." He said to the corpses in the room. He paused for them to respond.

"So, after everything that happened; friends and family being gone, being alone in the world, I started to get depressed. And life started to get hard. Hard to live with. Like I was just being toyed with; being screwed over as some sort of punishment for something I've done. But then I meet this girl and suddenly, everything seemed better. It was like the world had blossomed into life when I was with her. And, I guess, I fell in love with her. But..."

Liam let out a long sigh.

"She couldn't be with me and she left me. And that's when I hit rock bottom. At one point I tried to take my life. And then that's when I started to drink. For a little bit, it made me feel better. It took my mind off things. But I went from feeling better and better to worse and worse. The drink didn't make me any better but I thought I could push past it and feel better. And I tried to take my life again."

Liam showed the deceased members his scar.

"And I remained a drunk for eight years, barely eating, not cleaning and shaving, wearing torn up clothes. I was a mess. And I found myself lying in an alley, sculling whiskey while it bucketed down and wondered 'How did things get so bad?' and I realised it was because of the drink. So I stopped. I dropped the bottle then and there and walked away."

"I've been sober for, a year now." He continued, "But it's been hard. There have been times were I've been low and wanted the pain to go away. And the nightmares have been coming back, worse than ever. And that makes it harder to sleep and harder not to think about everything. And it tempts me so much."

Liam paused again, thinking back to the time he was down and found a bottle. And how he nearly held it up to his lips.

"But," He added, more cheerfully, "I managed to pull through and make the one year milestone. And I'm proud of that. It was my goal to never touch a drop again; to better myself. After all, I was my worst enemy. I was the one drinking and making myself depressed. And I'm proud that I've turned my life around."

He looked back to the crowd. They remained silent.

"Yeah, good talk guys."

Liam picked up his bag and slipped it over his shoulders. Liam pushed past the chairs on the way to the door. He stopped at the table. Liam picked up the one year sobriety chip and looked at it. He grasped it in his hand and pocketed the chip. Liam walked out of the community centre and down the road into the silent twilight. He made his way to an old office building and set up camp there. He rested his bag against a wall and spread his sleeping bag along it. He opened his bag and pulled out his knife and can of creamed corn.

"Mm mm mm, delicious creamed corn." He sarcastically remarked, pulling the tin out.

Liam pierce the tin with his knife and cut around the lid to open it. He slipped his hand in and scooped up some of the corn. As he went to lift it to his mouth, some dribbled between his fingers and onto his shirt.

"Yep, nothing better."

The sun soon set and Liam pulled out his new book, "Dealing with temptation" and a torch as reading light. The hours rolled by and he soon became tired. Liam rubbed his eyes to keep him awake but slowly, he tipped off to sleep. He dreamt of the nightmare again. It was far worse than it had been before. As usual, he stood on a busy street with people rushing by either by foot or on bike all trying to go somewhere or another and cars stretching along the road, honking their horns at slow goers or zooming past. Liam waded through the crowd, gently gliding between the gaps of people. A fleet of planes flew overhead creating an ear piercing scream through the air.

Then, Liam saw someone looking up. Everyone joined in and started screaming and running. People were pushing each other out of the way to save their own lives. A little girl had been knocked down onto the ground as people rushed past her. Liam wanted to help the girl but is instincts told him to run, to save himself. The remaining crowd trampled over the little girl who was crying out for her mother. Liam noticed a woman ahead of him turn around and stop in the crowd to look at her. The little girl held out on of her hands with tears streaming down her cheeks. The mother just turned back around and ran.

The crowd quickly swarmed around the little and hid her from Liam's view. Liam pushed past the thousands of terrified people to the girl but she disappeared. Liam looked up and saw the gigantic metallic hell bringer 50 meters above him. Liam ducked down to the ground, waiting for the huge wave of heat to cast over him and to turn him into ash but it didn't. He opened his eyes and looked up. He was back to being 15 and in his backyard. His family was just a little behind him. Liam picked himself up and ran to the bomb shelter. He waited for his parents and sister to come racing in but the door shut behind him.

"No!" He shouted banging against the door. "No no no no!"

Liam grabbed the latch and tried to turn it with all his might but it seemed locked in place.

"No!" He screamed.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake and he flew backwards into the shelf. He opened his eyes again and stood up, making his way to the door. He spun the latch and the door swung open. Liam stepped outside into the utter destruction; there was fire everywhere, the sky was blood red. It was hell on Earth. Suddenly, a mutant appeared in front of him. He let out a loud hiss and came sprinting towards him. Lim turned around and the bunker was gone, a street took its place instead. Liam looked over his shoulder and saw the mutant was even closer. He then began to run. The mutant soon became a hoard and seemed to be more aggressive. They were louder, angrier and faster. Liam was sprinting along through the street and slide through a hole in a demolished wall.

"Daddy?" He heard a voice call out.

Liam peeked over the wall and noticed a little girl, Marcy. The hoard of mutants turned their attention to her. Liam attempted to help her but a dark shadow held him back, under his arms. He tried to wiggle out of its grasp but it was no use. The shadow sunk down to the floor and moved in front of him. It then grew from the ground and took the shape of Marceline. She embraced him tightly.

"Sh sh sh." She said moving in closer.

The city changed to the forest. They were on a log in front of a fire under the night sky, just like the moment they kissed. Liam moved in to her embrace, ready to kiss. A wicked grin spreads across Marceline's face and she darted towards his neck and sank her teeth in.

Liam jumped from his dream and sat up.

"It's not your fault you know." A voice said next to him.

Liam turned in the direction and his dad was sitting next to him.

"My god you've gotten old." His dad said.

"Dad?" Liam said startled, "Am I still dreaming?"

"No, you're awake. And it's not your fault that we're gone."

"But it is, if I had just waited for you, you'd still be alive. You'd still be with me."

"If you had waited, you'd be dead. You did what you needed to survive and I don't blame you."

"But I do, I let you die, I killed you."

"No, you didn't." Liam's dad said sternly, "What you're feeling now, and these dreams you've been having, is just survivors' guilt. You've just made yourself responsible for what happened."

"No, I haven't!" He shouted, "I killed you! I had your life in my hands and I threw it away for my own!" He began to tear up.

"So you'd of much preferred being dead with us?"

"If it meant I didn't have to live with all this pain; all this guilt and sorrow, then yes. I'd rather be another dead body on the side of the road than have to spend all these years living with what I did."

"But you don't need to. You just need to forgive yourself and move on." Liam's dad put his hand on his son's shoulder. Liam shrugged it off.

"I can't. Remembering your face just before I shut that door. Knowing what hell you lived through in those last few seconds of your life." Liam began to cry.

His father wrapped his arms around him and comforted him.

"Sh, there there my boy." He said quietly, "It's okay."

Liam cried even harder. But not because he was sad, but because of the sudden release. His father's words lifted the weight off his shoulders and he finally felt at peace. The torture that's been with him at the bottom of his heart was now gone. Liam opened his eyes and his dad was gone, leaving him in the empty room. Liam grabbed his bag and walked out of the building, through the starry night.


	19. Epilogue

Liam was tired, he was tired of running, tired of living. Over the ten years, he had become much weaker, all the life had been drained out of him and he didn't want to go on. It was his time Liam trudged through the city one last time. He made his way out of town and up to the hill and looked over the once great city. Far off in the distance, he saw his house. He smiled at it before turning off into the forest. He walked for hours, through the flora, getting tidier and tidier. He came across the outskirts of the woods, a place he had never been to, he never saw much point. Miles and miles of endless walking, for what? Nothing.

He set down his bag and took out his last meal, baked beans. While searching for it, he came across his two pictures; the one of his family and the one of him and Marceline. He smiled at both of them. Once Liam finished his beans, placed the two pictures against a rock and laid next to them. As he looked at the picture of Marceline, he remembered the last thing he said to her. He didn't want that to be the way she remembered him. He rummaged through his backpack and found a pen and on the back of the picture he wrote, 'I still love you.' He smiled to himself at that and rested it back against the rock with the other. He then looked at the picture of his family.

"Don't worry," He said gently, " I'll be with you shortly." And slowly drifted off into death.

Finn, Jake and Marceline were all walking through the forest in the gently hours of the night. Reminiscing all the times they'd had together.

"And remember how Jake use to be really scared of you?" Finn said to Marceline.

Marceline laughed, "Yeah, you're such as wuss Jake."

"Hey! I was not scared of you."

"Sure sur-" Finn tripped over something.

"Uh," He said, rubbing his head, "What was that?"

Finn crawls over to the bump in the path and he and Jake brush away the dirt.

"It's a bone."

"Could there be an un-dead guardian here, hiding buried treasure?" Finn asked excitedly.

"Only one to find out." Jake said turning into a giant broom. He swept away the dirt to reveal a skeleton in the dirt, the remains of a bag and a rusty revolver and hunting rifle. Several of the skeleton's bones were missing.

"Aww, it's just a pile of boring old bones."

Something among the remains caught Marceline's attention. She glided over to it.

"Who do you think he was?" Jake asked, "Some kind of adventurer?"

Marceline found the corner of some slip of paper under the dirt. She grabbed the corner and pulled it out. It was the picture of her and Liam. She looked back at the pile of bones on the ground that Finn and Jake were looking over. She felt herself starting to tear up.

"Whatcha got there Marceline?" Finn asked her.

She didn't answer. She saw that there was something imprinted on the other side. She turned it over and saw the words he left her. She looked back at the picture of him and a tear fell from her eye and landed on him.

"Marceline?"

She stood there silent, still looking at the picture.

"Come on Finn," Jake said tugging his arm, trying to get Finn to leave Marceline, "let's go explore those caves near the candy kingdom for Bubblegum."

"Yeah, okay." Finn said, still looking at his vampire friend.

The two walked off leaving Marceline to stare at her picture under the light of the moon.


End file.
